This article is for broadcasters who are planning a broadcast in excess of three hours and have reached out to Halogen to have their broadcasting account configured appropriately.
Connecting to Halogen
To connect to Halogen, an RTMP Server Url and Stream Key is generated using the web interface. See our quick reference to encoder settings for information about how to set up your encoder, and then follow these instructions to broadcast.
Once you're broadcasting, the Halogen broadcast interface will show you the live stream, as well as viewer activity and a chat window, so you can see what people are saying.
If a problem with the connection happens, during the broadcast, you will be able to reconnect to your live stream. Your broadcaster account has been configured to allow unlimited reconnects, regardless of how long you take to reconnect. This gives you the flexibility to recover from disconnects, but also means that you need to end each live stream manually from the web interface (by clicking End Broadcast).
What to do if you're disconnected
It's important to understand that each Stream Url and Stream Key is for a single connection. If you are disconnected, you'll need to use the Reconnect button to get a new stream key and stream URL. Most importantly, do not click End Broadcast until your broadcast is completely over. Once you click End Broadcast, you will not be able to reconnect.
In order to start streaming again after a disconnect:
- Get reconnected to the internet.
- Click the "Reconnect" button on the top right corner of the broadcast interface of halogen.tv. Clicking that button displays a modal with your a new Stream Url and Stream Key. Enter these into the settings of your encoder, and set the encoder to streaming again.
- Once you are streaming with the new Stream Url and Stream Key, the broadcast interface of halogen.tv will show you the stream, and the regular stream interface.
* Some encoders (like OBS) require you to stop streaming to enter in the new Stream Url and Stream Key. That's okay. Once you're streaming to the new Url and Key, Halogen will detect that it's part of the same broadcast.
